Ag Notebook for Nov. 13

Colorado officials investigate wild horse buyer … Agriculture officials say a southern Colorado man under investigation for his handling of protected wild horses has acknowledged shipping animals out of the state in violation of brand inspection laws.

The Gazette reports the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Brand Inspection Division has turned 64-year-old Tom Davis’ case over to the district attorney in Alamosa for prosecution.

Davis, a livestock hauler and proponent of the horse meat industry, has purchased more than 1,700 wild horses from the federal Bureau of Land Management since 2008 — roughly 70 percent of all horses sold by the agency.

Colorado Brand Commissioner Chris Whitney says Davis acknowledged shipping horses out of the state without the required inspections.

Davis, who agreed not to sell any of the horses to slaughter, says he has lived up to his contracts.

— The Associated Press

U.S., Mexico close to Colorado River water use pact … Government leaders in the United States and Mexico are close to signing a pact to add areas south of the border to Colorado River water sharing agreements involving seven Western U.S. states, officials said Friday.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials characterized the talks as delicate while final documents circulate among 15 water agencies and state officials in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

“The concern is that these are sensitive negotiations,” said Kip White, a bureau spokesman in Washington, D.C. “It has taken a long time to get here. We’re looking forward to a culmination of this later this month.”

“It’s not a completed agreement until the document is signed,” added Rose Davis, a bureau spokeswoman in Boulder City.

The framework of the five-year agreement became public with agenda items for a meeting on Thursday in Las Vegas involving the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Colorado River Commission of Nevada. The Las Vegas Review-Journal first reported it on Friday.

The pact is an addendum to a 1944 U.S.-Mexico water treaty.

It developed from talks begun when the seven Colorado River states signed a landmark agreement in 2007 to share the pain of shortages and the wealth of surpluses from the Colorado River reservoirs of Lake Mead and Lake Powell. The water users called at the time for federal officials to get Mexico to participate.

The agreement would also link Mexican and U.S. water allocations from the Colorado River during surplus and drought. The documents never refer to shortage, but instead cite “low reservoir conditions.”

— The Associated Press

Stagnant U.S. exports to Cuba belie fair’s optimism … Many of America’s best-known brands were on display at a Havana exposition center last week as representatives hawked some of the few U.S. products that can legally be exported to Cuba, thanks to an exception to the U.S. embargo allowing cash-up-front sales of food, agricultural goods and medicine.

But cold numbers belie the enthusiasm on the convention center floor. Cuban purchases of U.S. goods have plunged as the island increasingly turns to countries like China, Brazil, Vietnam and Venezuela, which offer cheaper deals, long-term credits and less hassle over payment and shipping.

U.S. sales of food and agricultural commodities to the communist-run island began more than a decade ago with the Trade Sanctions Reform Act enacted in 2000 under President Clinton. Modest sales of $138 million the following year rose steadily to a peak of $710 million in 2008, according to statistics calculated by Kavulich’s group.

The value of U.S. exports to Cuba has since plummeted to just over half that last year at $358 million. It was $250 million through the first six months of 2012, with no sign of improvement.

It’s been a tenuous trade from the beginning, partly due to U.S. rules requiring cash payment before goods can even be shipped.

— The Associated Press

Palestinian farmers turn to organic farming … The Palestinian olive harvest, an ancient autumn ritual in the West Bank, is going upscale.

In an emerging back-to-the-land movement, Palestinian farmers are turning the rocky hills of the West Bank into organic olive groves, selling their oil to high-end grocers in the U.S. and Europe.

The move is a reflection of the growing global demand for natural, sustainable and fairly traded products, albeit with a distinct Palestinian twist. The hardships faced by local farmers, ranging from a lack of rainfall to Israeli trade obstacles, mean that organic growing is one of the few ways Palestinians have to compete in outside markets.

Organic farming has grown into a thriving business, by Palestinian standards, since it first was introduced in the West Bank in 2004. Now, at least $5 million worth of organic olive oil is exported annually — about half of all Palestinian commercial oil exports, said Nasser Abu Farha of the Canaan Fair Trade Association, one of the companies that sells high-end organic olive oil to distributors abroad.

The West Bank-based company purchases the oil at above market prices and pays what’s called a “social premium” — extra money to farming cooperatives to improve their communities.

About 930 farmers have fair-trade and organic certification, while another 140 are “converting” their land — a two- to three-year process during which they stop using chemical fertilizers and pest controls while monitors from Canaan and the Palestine Fair Trade Association provide training and check soil for chemical levels.